War-time icon recruited by war museum

The Imperial War Museum in London has recruited a a war-time icon to front its new social media campaign.

Mrs Sew & Sew will be blogging and twittering to attract visitors to the South London -based, free museum over the Easter holidays.

Mrs Sew & Sew is a fictional character living in London in 1943, which the museum has hooked up to a “special typewriter” so that she can share a host of money saving tips from the utility years of the 1940s, with the cash-strapped Londoners of 2009.

Based upon the Ministry of Information propaganda character who encouraged people to Make Do and Mend throughout the Second World War, Mrs Sew & Sew will be ‘tweeting’ about wartime tips and tricks for cooking and housekeeping, as well as writing a blog and showcasing film footage and photographs from her era, which are being uploaded to YouTube and Flickr.

Mrs Sew & Sew has so far offered advice on growing your own vegetables, recycling tips for clothes and food waste and how to make your own tea cosy.

The campaign is running until mid April to coincide with the Easter school holiday period.

Mrs Sew and Sew is part of a wider Imperial War Museum campaign that encourages the public to wage war on the credit crunch with money saving tips from the 1940s.

Museum historian Terry Charman said: “During the Second World War the British people had to endure many sacrifices and hardships in order to defeat Hitler. Nearly all foodstuffs, clothes, fuel and household goods were either rationed or in short supply. Stringent economies were sought and met in every British home. Today we are challenged with a new crisis, that of recession. To meet and overcome it, we can learn much from the lessons of 1939-1945.”